This invention relates to coated, oil roasted nuts. More particularly, this invention relates to a process for preparing coated, oil-roasted nuts which exhibit superior coating adhesion and uniformity, and the nuts produced thereby.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,800 to Noznick et al. attempted to overcome the problem of poor salt adherence to dry roasted nuts by first dry roasting nuts and then applying a coating of wheat gluten to the nuts while still hot. Noznick et al. further suggests the application of gluten and salt in a single wet phase. The method of this patent has several drawbacks, including the limiting requirement of dry roasting, the undesirable requirement of coating the nuts while still hot and the limited number of seasonings which can be combined with gluten in a single wet phase.
Green et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,545, discloses a method for adhering a dry coating prior to roasting by first coating nuts with a honey solution and then the dry coating. Green et al. also recommends the use of an additional adhesive agent such as malto-dextrin, dextrins, edible polymers, gum arabic, guar and cellulose derivatives in combination with the honey solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,758 to Morris relates to the use of an aqueous mixture of sugar and one of gum arabic, gum acacia, guar, xanthan, corn syrup solids, dextrine, or mixtures thereof as an adhesive for a sugar/starch/dried honey mixture applied prior to roasting.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,248, Wilkins et al. teach the application of a starch pre-dust, a coating of a gelatin solution, and then a coating of a seasoning mix prior to dry roasting the nuts. The resulting nuts exhibit superior coating adherence.
Unfortunately, the use of such prior art binders which involve coating before roasting results in a substantial amount of coating loss which occurs during the coating, roasting, cooling, packaging and storage processes, or both. This coating loss often causes the product to take on an unattractive speckled appearance and is disadvantageous in terms of waste.
More importantly, though, since many spices and other flavoring agents can be adversely affected by heat, coating before roasting severely limits the spices and flavorings available. Coating after roasting, especially when the nuts are oil-roasted, can be difficult since oil roasted nuts generally have a thin film of oil on their surface, significantly interfering with the adhesion of coatings.
It has now been found, surprisingly, that use of one or more coatings of an edible protein after oil roasting can provide superior adhesiveness for subsequent dry coatings.